Music
One of the opportunities I’ve appreciated as a Dane101 contributor is shining a light on new theater companies, so the emergence of a new collective of actors, musicians, and other artists that not only puts on performances but produces its own magazine is something I find especially interesting.
Project Famous first came on my radar late last year through Facebook activity and the involvement of theatrical polymath Simone LaPierre. One of their projects was a show on Red Dragon TV called Vaudevillains, a contemporary variety show. I caught a couple of episodes, which featured live performances and recorded sketches. The comedy content was kind of a mixed bag, but something I consistently enjoyed was the performance of Joey Broyles as the emcee, which was a character that melded the edgy, diabolical weirdness of the emcee from Cabaret with the vocalization of Mr. Gutman from the classic movie version of The Maltese Falcon.
Broom Street Sessions, a series of monthly performances by local musicians at Broom Street Theater, 1119 Williamson St., turns two busy local musicians loose with their loop pedals and chaotic collages of sound.
Asumaya is the one-man project of CONTROL drummer Luke Bassuener, who'll combine bass, mbira, percussion and voice into a journey through African music and post-punk. Czech Mate is Tom Teslik (Pushmi-Pullyu, Meteorade) exploring his psychedelic side with solo guitar and layers of loops and effects.
Music starts at 7:00pm and there is a $6 cover at the door. Listeners of all ages are welcome.
If you'd like to win today's pair of tickets to this Sunday’s Broom Street Sessions, email Contest@Dane101.com with the subject line “Broom Street” by 9 a.m. Friday, April 26, 2013. We’ll randomly pick a winner at that time and email you if you have won.
For further updates on Broom Street Sessions, visit facebook.com/BroomStreetSessions. For video from past BSS performances, visit vimeo.com/dane101. Broom Street Sessions is a partnership of Broom Street Theater, Dane101, and Arts Extract Podcast.
Post by Scott Gordon on 4/19/2013 11:00am
A new Madison music venue is opening this week. Lindsay Christians reports for the Capital Times about Crescendo Espresso Bar and Music Café on Monroe Street, which will kick things off with a Friday show from Anna Vogelzang and David Berkeley. The story makes proprietor Cait Shanahan sound a bit cautious, in that she's starting by just booking "musicians she knows." Then again, Crescendo could help meet Madison's need for more early-evening shows, all-ages spaces, and venues that aren't bars and encourage listening above all.
Last week I neglected to mention an Isthmus story about The Bubbler, a developing hands-on arts-workshop program at the Madison Public Library. Writer Lauren Pongan talks with ever-busy artist and MPL programmer Trent Miller (who also runs the Spackle Madison blog) and points out that it can be hard "to understand what the program is about."
The Overture Center announced its 2013-2014 season this week. Does anybody else find it a bit slim as far as music goes?
Madison-based band All Tiny Creatures got some attention from Impose Magazine this week for its A Lone Sound Mixtape. It's a promotion for ATC's second full-length, Dark Clock, and it expands upon one of the album's singles with some extended instrumental tracks and remixes. It runs about 15 minutes and it's much more compelling than the worn-out tactic of simply debuting one MP3 from an album.
Post by Brett Newski on 4/13/2013 9:55am
The world has gone completely insane. Everyone is a DJ. Most people are “songwriters,” and even massive rock bands such as Garbage, Bush and Joy Formidable are still using backing tracks on stage. Does purely live music matter anymore? Does anyone care? It’s singer vs. DJ. Macbook vs. guitarist. Man vs. robot. Currently, robot is taking its giant metal fist, shoving it up man’s scrawny rear, and clicking ‘vibrate’ into full-gear Mike Tyson mode. D-day is coming people. Who will save us?
Chuck Ragan will. With a lumberjack stature, grizzly beard, and whiskey-soaked singing voice, Ragan would be a choice spokesman for any Old Spice, Keystone, or Dr Pepper product that claims to put hair on your chest. Wednesday’s Tour stop at Turner Hall brought true roots camaraderie void of electronic shenanigans.
Touring the great states for three decades, Revival Tour founder Chuck Ragan has cut his teeth across nearly every American highway, whether it be a house show for 20 people or a jam-packed festival for thousands. While ticket sales in Milwaukee were mediocre at best, those in attendance made every head count. The crowd backed Ragan full-throttle on his classic “California Burritos” in which an audience member joined the band to sing the final fist-pumping chorus on stage.
Post by Mark Riechers on 4/11/2013 12:00pm
This week, Arts Extract Podcast brings you a recording from Broom Street Sessions, a live performance series featuring Madison musicians at Broom Street Theater. In a performance recorded in March, Madison duo Spires That In The Sunset Rise performs the song “Seaweed On The Beach.” The next Broom Street Sessions show takes place Sunday, April 28 at 7 p.m. and features Asumaya and Czech Mate. For information on future Broom Street Sessions shows, visit the Broom Street Sessions Facebook page or the Arts Extract events page.
Subscribe to Arts Extract on iTunes.
Dane101 has teamed up with Broom Street Theaters to present "Broom Street Sessions," a music series that features local Wisconsin bands live from Broom Street Theater, 1119 Williamson St, Madison, Wisconsin. The black box theater at Broom Street creates a unique, intimate environment to hear bands with no amplification needed.
The final session of 2012 featured Oedipus Tex (video below) and William Z Villain (video here). The next Broom Street Session is Sunday, April 28, 2013. View other past performances here.
Broom Street Sessions Presents Oedipus Tex from dane101 on Vimeo.
Broom Street Sessions Presents William Z from dane101 on Vimeo.
Post by Sarah Bartash on 4/8/2013 10:30am
The Shitty Barn, Spring Green Wisconsin’s indubitably unconventional music venue, started its incremental warm up to Spring on March 27 with a potluck and house concert not at the Barn itself, but in owner Chris Staples’ self-described “colorful vernacular Victorian farm house.” Performers included Dietrich Gosser with surprise guest Anna Vogelzang, Philadelphia based indie/folk project Small Houses featuring Jeremy Quentin, and the five-piece Madison alt-folk group Pioneer.
Pre-show, children tumbled, household pets wandered to and fro with varying degrees of comfort, and the crowd enjoyed a communal feast and talked music. Staples' abode has hosted shows in the past, most notably “Morning After” concerts that have followed some Sh*tty Barn Sessions. He said Minneapolis musician Jeremy Messersmith had inspired the night’s idea with his "2012 Supper Club Tour," which combined intimate concerts with potluck dinners.
"(I) thought it was a great idea. That said, (local singer/songwriter) Corey Hart said that music is his religion and that The Shitty Barn is his church. And every church has a church basement, right? And every church basement has church basement food, right? So it sort of felt like the logical extension was "barn as church," "living room as church basement." Hence, Staples said, the potluck.
Post by Brett Newski on 4/5/2013 1:53pm
While he looks the same as he did in 1996, Garbage guitarist Duke Erickson is a celebrity that still goes unnoticed in Madison, even as he makes his way through crowds toward the bar at Genna’s, en route to another shot of whiskey. Perhaps it’s his average 5’9’’ stature, or the fact that his audiences were too distracted by sex-kitten singer Shirley Manson. Maybe it’s because Duke never had any flashy wank-off solos like that of Eddie Van Helen or Slash.
The fact is, Duke blends in with Madison, and surely he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Post by Mark Riechers on 4/4/2013 10:42am
In Arts Extract Podcast’s first-ever episode with two guests, Madison singer-songwriter Nick Brown shares his wisdom about Willie Nelson, who plays Overture Hall on April 14. In our second segment, Capital Times reporter Lindsay Christians gets us caught up on a few local theater productions, including Madison Theater Guild’s revival of Neil Simon’s terrific farce Rumors.
Subscribe to the Arts Extract Podcast on iTunes.
Post by Mark Riechers on 3/28/2013 11:00am
In a preview of Joey Bada$$’ April 12 show at the Rathskeller, Arts Extract Podcast co-hosts Ben Munson and Joel Shanahan talk about how the mixtape 1999 shows the rapper’s promise and reminds them of Illmatic. In this week’s second segment, we briefly discuss the Ross Brothers’ wondrous New Orleans-set documentary Tchoupitoulas, which screens April 5 at UW Cinematheque at Vilas Hall.
